Bad Idea, Nashville

1. Quail stuffed with foie gras and sticky rice on top of sweet potato curry. Hands down my favorite dish of the night.

2. Scallop mousse crepe w/ nam prik blanquette and Makrut lime

3. Black truffle pate with burnt onion crackers

4. Pork chop w/ massaman

5. Pavlova w/ confit mandarin

6. Crispy rice salad. Not fancy, but it’s my favorite Laotian dish and this was arguably the best version I’ve had. We were there early enough for the more casual happy hour bar menu so couldn’t resist.

7. Tempura winter squash. Another item off the bar menu.

I guess I am somewhat remiss in posting these pics so late, as the restaurant has totally switched concepts by now. When I booked this place, I was most intrigued by this concept of a Laotian/French fusion, as this is something I had not seen before. I thought it was going to be a more festive atmosphere with bold mash ups, but it ended up being very classy with food that was very refined with fusion techniques that was much more subtle and nuanced…..so decided to post pics here since I feel it fits the bill. It’s set inside of an old church and is quite a grand space. Despite the cavernous interior, it was nice and quiet and you were able to carry on a conversation quite easily. The service was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. This place is a wine bar, and the staff were very knowledgeable about pairing. They guided me towards orange wines which I don’t normally gravitate towards but it was so good with the food, I ordered a second glass. Unfortunately, this place got a new chef (some guy from The French Laundry) and all of the Laotian elements are gone. I feel like this menu would have been a sensation here in the Bay Area but may have been a bit out of place in Nashville.